Prices for subterranean clover seed are at historical highs of about $5.50 a kilogram but need to remain there consistently, according to major industry players.
The mid South East has been the capital of sub clover seed production for decades, especially near Naracoorte.
But in recent years, a number of growers have switched to easier small seed crops such as balansa and arrow leaf clovers.
Australian Seeds Authority figures show 2621 hectares of proprietary and public varieties were certified for the 2017-18 season, well down from the 3961ha five years earlier.
At the same time, many pasture mixes that moved to alternative clover annuals are again are coming back to sub clover due to its impressive persistence.
Naracoorte Seeds managing director Jamie Tidy says it is a “tough industry”.
“Harvesting any aerially seeded annual you could have a paddock done in a couple of hours, but that same size paddock might take up to two weeks for sub clover going along at 2 kilometres an hour to 3km/hr with a 1.2 metre-wide machine,” he said.
“We aren’t seeing any new growers coming into it, they are all the ones who have done it for multiple generations,” he said.
Prices must reflect the extra effort involved – a minimum of $5/kg year in, year out, he says.
Mr Tidy wants to see livestock industry funds allocated to developing a more advanced harvesting technique.
“It (sub clover) is the backbone of sheep and beef pastures in the temperate zone in Australia.”
- JAMIE TIDY
“The last Horwood Bagshaw suction harvesting machine rolled off the production line in the mid-late 1980s and since then there has been no reliable or cost-effective option for maintainence,” he said.
Mr Tidy says livestock producers cannot afford to lose sub clover.
“It is the backbone of sheep and beef pastures in the temperate zone in Australia,” he said.
“It is a self-regenerating annual that buries its burr so will set seed every year, as opposed to balansa or arrowleaf clovers that are above ground, which could get wiped out with frost or have their seed shatter.”
The Shepherd family at Kybybolite have been sub clover producers for many years but Andrew Shepherd has taken out 25 per cent to 40pc of the area in the past and replaced it with aerially seeded cultivars.
“It takes a quarter of the time and we still get the nitrogen fix out of it, and it is not as degrading to the soil,” he said.
He also knows of at least three other growers who have sold their machines or walked away from the industry in the past four or five years.
“They have had enough of lean years, trying to find staff to sit on machines, and poorer prices,” Mr Shepherd said.
He is pleased to hear AgriFutures is looking to fund development of a new harvesting method.
“We need to look at something else – there is a limited time we can keep rebuilding the machines,’ he said
Mr Shepherd says the successful engineering firm will need ongoing financial assistance to make manufacturing the machines viable.
“If you look at copying a conventional header it is in the vicinty of $500,000 or more,” he said.
“In the first three, four or five years they may sell 20 or 30 machines a year but then it will drop off due to the limited market.”
Know make-up of pasture blends
Livestock producers should take note of what they are getting in their pasture seed mixes, according to Koppamurra and Hynam growers Tim and Bruce Schultz.
“When they are buying they should ask what the sub clover variety is – is it an early, mid or late season? Is it new or older seed? Is it high in oestrogen? What percentage will germinate?” Bruce said.
The family, which trade as Kenlen Seeds, have been specialist sub clover seed growers for about 40 years and believe it is worth livestock producers doing their homework.
The brothers say some sub clover seed sellers are "rogue operators", coating seed heavily to reduce the proportion of seed in each bag and sourcing older seed varieties or lesser quality to keep the cost of the mix down.
The Schultzes say sub clover is a challenging seed crop with most paddocks requiring about 10 passes to prepare and harvest.
Each year they rebuild about eight ageing suction harvesters.
“A lot of people have tried to come up with a new method for harvesting, but have never come up with a viable, cost-effective alternative,” Bruce said.
There is also the financial risk of carrying over unsold seed.
They try to get the varieties that are in demand right, but say it is an unpredictable market.
“We can have a lot of money tied up in seed which might not sell for 1-2 years, and our costs of production and all our inputs have gone up significantly in the last few years,” he said.
But they are committed to sub clover growing with 14 varieties this year, grown for four seed companies.
The Schultzes say this year, prices and demand are the best they have been but need to gradually increase further in coming years “to keep them interested”.
“Otherwise we may have to scale back,” Tim said.
“Sub clover buries its seeds so it really persists – if a grazier invests in a pasture it can still be there in 10-15 years’ time, or even longer if you get things right.”
“If you divide it over that time it isn’t much each year and you have better pastures so better producing animals.”
